Things Are Looking Up

[Brian Sump]

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher from the summer series.

I am prepared that some may not prefer the oof branch toward the end. The grass seemed to break it up a bit?

Curious your thoughts.

D850
600mm + 1.4x
Handheld
ISO 1600
1/1000
f5.6

LR and PS. Cloned a couple branches on the right side and one short grass. Burned a couple bright leaves.

[Bill Dix]

Great saucy little Gnatcatcher frame. I'm fine with the branch, grasses and lovely background. It feels just a touch pale to my eye; maybe a few points of black added to the neutrals might help, or a bit of Tonal Contrast.

[John Mack]

Beeautiful pose here. The detail looks very nice. The grass on the left balances the bird nicely.

[Dorian Anderson]

These little guys are so heard to get in the open and still, so this is a really good effort. Pose and details are great. Yeah the surroundings and branch aren't perfect, but this looks like a legit, in the field frame which counts for a lot in my book. I've not seen many good shots of this shifty bird, so i'd take this any day. Soft tones are very pretty.

[annmpacheco]

The pose is so endearing Brian and the grass softens the heavy branch , so i like your composition. very tough for the gnatcatcher to stop for a second, but you grabbed an excellent frame.

[Brian Sump]

Great saucy little Gnatcatcher frame. I'm fine with the branch, grasses and lovely background. It feels just a touch pale to my eye; maybe a few points of black added to the neutrals might help, or a bit of Tonal Contrast.

Bill, ha love the "saucy" label. I agree. I appreciate you commenting on it being a bit pale, that's very helpful. Sometimes I get comments that there's too much contrast, so maybe a breather isn't a bad thing. But I can def see what you're seeing.

Beeautiful pose here. The detail looks very nice. The grass on the left balances the bird nicely.

John, appreciate your consistent feedback. Did you mean to type two "e"s in Beeautiful? I got a sense of Jim Carey in Yes Man, or whatever that was.... so that means you love it? :-)

These little guys are so heard to get in the open and still, so this is a really good effort. Pose and details are great. Yeah the surroundings and branch aren't perfect, but this looks like a legit, in the field frame which counts for a lot in my book. I've not seen many good shots of this shifty bird, so i'd take this any day. Soft tones are very pretty.

Dorian, totally agree. They're skittish as all heck. Really appreciate you acknowledging the effort and the other comments are duly noted!

The pose is so endearing Brian and the grass softens the heavy branch , so i like your composition. very tough for the gnatcatcher to stop for a second, but you grabbed an excellent frame.

So glad to hear your thoughts Ann. And you're so right, this was very gracious to allow me the moment :-)

[Arthur Morris]

Wesley,

Another excellent image of a tough little subject. Ditto al the positives above. Two things bug me: the two lightest areas in the frame. On is the lightest portion of the uppermost leaf on the left frame-edge, the other, of the same (too bright) tonality, is just right of the spot where the grass stem crosses the bottom of the perch.

with love, a

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Brian, nice image of a gnatcatcher. I like the pose and position of the bird, the raised tail really neat. Good weathered perch and nice look at the feet. Artie commented regarding the bright spots. Thank you for sharing.

[Brian Sump]

Wesley,

Another excellent image of a tough little subject. Ditto al the positives above. Two things bug me: the two lightest areas in the frame. On is the lightest portion of the uppermost leaf on the left frame-edge, the other, of the same (too bright) tonality, is just right of the spot where the grass stem crosses the bottom of the perch.

with love, a

Artie, thank you for chiming in. Receive your kind words as well as the particulars on the bright spots, great catch!

Hi Brian, nice image of a gnatcatcher. I like the pose and position of the bird, the raised tail really neat. Good weathered perch and nice look at the feet. Artie commented regarding the bright spots. Thank you for sharing.

Valuable feedback from you Joe. Thank you for taking time!